(Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)
After reaching the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, expectations will be even higher for the Cincinnati Bengals heading into the 2013 season as they look to overtake the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. With a defense that ranked near the top of the league last season, the best chance for the Bengals to win the division will come down to whether or not the offense can live up to the hype–which is why Andy Dalton has made it clear there’s no more excuses for this squad.
Cincinnati already had one of the most up-and-coming offenses last season thanks to Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green, but the bar will be set to an even higher level in 2013 thanks to the last two drafts. The Bengals have high expectations for Mohamed Sanu heading into his second season and the recent selection of Tyler Eifert in the 2013 NFL Draft gives Cincinnati a very high-powered offense on paper.
With these types of weapons–Dalton is right on the money by saying there’s no excuse for the offense not to perform well next season.
Two years ago, everybody expected the Bengals to go through a few years of rebuilding, but the argument can be made they could be one of the top teams in the AFC heading into the 2013 season. The weapons are certainly there for Cincinnati and they got even stronger on offense following last weekend’s draft–which means they’ll hopefully be playing in the postseason for the third-straight year once January rolls around.
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